Poll: SSB4 Roster Size, What's it gonna be?

[MAGMIS]

Interesting theories on the character. You bring up some nice points especially about Higgs, but we will definitely have at least 45 characters not 37.

why do u say 45 even though in an interview sakurai did mention he may have fewer char than in brawl.

 

[Cpt.]

why do u say 45 even though in an interview sakurai did mention he may have fewer char than in brawl.

Haha he didn't say he'd have fewer character. He just said that he would have fewer newcomer. At least im pretty sure that's what he said.

 

[Morbi]

why do u say 45 even though in an interview sakurai did mention he may have fewer char than in brawl.

Can you please link the source, I don't recall Sakurai alluding to the roster size in anything other than typical ambiguities.

 

[MAGMIS]

sure it will take awhile to find it gawd dammit....hold on....lol

 

[Banjodorf]

If we even just added back all the obvious veterans, including GaW and ROB, we'd have at minimum 39. If you don't think we're going to have any more newcomers, then I think that's a little bit pessimistic, especially since there are a couple that are extremely likely. The roster is now at minimum the size of Brawl's.

Sakurai said he didn't want cuts unless he absolutely needed to. It doesn't seem like he'd go back on that and start cutting people like it's going out of style.

 

[Morbi]

If we even just added back all the obvious veterans, including GaW and ROB, we'd have at minimum 39. If you don't think we're going to have any more newcomers, then I think that's a little bit pessimistic, especially since there are a couple that are extremely likely. The roster is now at minimum the size of Brawl's.

Sakurai said he didn't want cuts unless he absolutely needed to. It doesn't seem like he'd go back on that and start cutting people like it's going out of style.

That being said, he will cut characters out of necessity (such as Pokemon Trainer, and perhaps Ice Climbers if he can't make them work). I highly doubt we are to receive more than "4" cuts; but at the same time, it is difficult to believe that Pokemon Trainer is the ONLY cut.

 

[MAGMIS]

http://gamerant.com/smash-bros-wii-u-roster-size-curt-158340/

“It isn’t a matter of ‘if the next game has 50 characters, that’ll be enough. There is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive…. In terms of quantity, we’ve probably already reached the limit of what’s feasible. I think a change of direction may be what’s needed.”

 

[MAGMIS]

Can you please link the source, I don't recall Sakurai alluding to the roster size in anything other than typical ambiguities.

found it btw lol

 

[WaddleKing]

I think under 42 is too low, i know Sakurai said he's not adding too many characters but i honestly can't imagine getting only under 42 characters.

 

[Morbi]

http://gamerant.com/smash-bros-wii-u-roster-size-curt-158340/

“It isn’t a matter of ‘if the next game has 50 characters, that’ll be enough. There is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive…. In terms of quantity, we’ve probably already reached the limit of what’s feasible. I think a change of direction may be what’s needed.”

Oh; I apologize, I didn't realize you were alluding to this article. I don't believe he definitively states that the game will have less newcomers. He merely asserts that a change in direction is what is needed (which is honestly the most logical interpretation). So I see where you are getting at. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Cpt.]

http://gamerant.com/smash-bros-wii-u-roster-size-curt-158340/

“It isn’t a matter of ‘if the next game has 50 characters, that’ll be enough. There is a certain charm to games that have huge casts of playable characters, but they tend to have issues with game balance and it becomes very difficult to fine-tune each character and have them all feel distinctive…. In terms of quantity, we’ve probably already reached the limit of what’s feasible. I think a change of direction may be what’s needed.”

Ok so he isn't talking about SSBB, he says he has reached the limit in Smash 4. This is at least my interpretation of it.

 

[MAGMIS]

Ok so he isn't talking about SSBB, he says he has reached the limit in Smash 4. This is at least my interpretation of it.

Don't you just love how Sakurai clearly answers, doesn't get so specific. lol

 

[Cpt.]

Don't you just love how Sakurai clearly answers, doesn't get so specific. lol

The most straight forward guy I know!

 

[Andinus]

Ok so he isn't talking about SSBB, he says he has reached the limit in Smash 4. This is at least my interpretation of it.

Well, but he says we have already reached the limit which makes me think his is referring to brawl since I doubt the roster for 4 was finalized at the time of the interview.

My interpretation of the quote is that we should not be expecting the kind of increase in roster size that we have seen in the previous 2 installments. Combine that with what he has said about balancing and the difficulty of adding new characters, and I feel he could not be imagining a roster size of more than 44 characters for smash 4. And I think 44 fits good on a selection screen. 44 characters plus random is a nice 9 across 5 down board, (not that it necessarily matters though.)

More than that is not out of the realm of possibility, based on how you interpret sakurai, but I think it's safe to say we won't see over 50 characters, since that would give us close to the same expansion as brawl saw, and I think he is trying to slow things down with adding new characters, and focusing his time on revamping, and updating current characters, which I believe is part of the "new direction" he was referring to.

 

[MAGMIS]

Well, but he says we have already reached the limit which makes me think his is referring to brawl since I doubt the roster for 4 was finalized at the time of the interview.

My interpretation of the quote is that we should not be expecting the kind of increase in roster size that we have seen in the previous 2 installments. Combine that with what he has said about balancing and the difficulty of adding new characters, and I feel he could not be imagining a roster size of more than 44 characters for smash 4. And I think 44 fits goodon a selection screen. 44 characters plus random is a nice 9 across 5 down board, (not that it necessarily matters though.)

More than that is not out of the realm of possibility, based on how you interpret sakurai, but I think it's safe to say we won't see over 50 characters, since that would give us close to the same expansion as brawl saw, and I think he is trying to slow thing down with adding new characters, and focusing his time on revamping, and updating current characters, which I believe is part of the "new direction" he was referring to.

I totally agree about more than 50 char being in the next ssb
44 seems like a good number to me
In my opinion feel like its this:
21 returning char just like in brawl
+
16 newcomers just like in brawl.
+
2 new Third party char just like in brawl
+
1 Mii
total being 40

 

[majora_787]

Sakurai has said a lot of things that all just conflict with each other. He said he may have reached the limit with either Brawl or SSB4, and also said he wanted to avoid cuts and add as many characters as he could. So I mean I don't think about Sakurai's statements when I theorize about the roster.

I just think this game will have a minimum of 12 newcomers because that is the fewest we've ever gotten, and I don't think we'll get more than four cuts because cutting a unique moveset is a LOT more severe than cutting a clone. And that right there gives us a minimum roster size of (35) minimum veterans + (12) minimum newcomers, or (47) minimum characters on the roster total.

I also think they designed the website the way they did on purpose so that the roster COULD be divisible by 9, which is why I say 47 characters is the absolute worst case scenario (Four cuts, no Mewtwo, 12 newcomers) and 54 characters is the best (2 cuts, Mewtwo, 16 newcomers).

And 16 newcomers isn't a whole lot, considering that's fewer than what we got in Brawl even if it's more than what we got in Melee. The question is the balance between returning veterans and new characters.

 

[Andinus]

I totally agree about more than 50 char being in the next ssb
44 seems like a good number to me
In my opinion feel like its this:
21 returning char just like in brawl
+
16 newcomers just like in brawl.
+
2 new Third party char just like in brawl
+
1 Mii
total being 40

I essentially agree with anything conservative, because we actually have something concrete to back up our theories, the people who think we are gonna get 50 plus characters, from what I have seen, are basing their opinions on just their feelings, or assumptions about what sakurai must know or understand about the series, many talk about character additions are what drives the series and sakurai knows this therefore we will get a big roster etc..

Well how the hell does anybody know what sakurai knows or thinks? other than what he has said. Most certainly there is "some" wiggle room for interpretation on what he has said about not wanting cuts etc, but nothing I can see that could realistically supports us getting a 50+ roster for this installment.

 

[MAGMIS]

Sakurai has said a lot of things that all just conflict with each other. He said he may have reached the limit with either Brawl or SSB4, and also said he wanted to avoid cuts and add as many characters as he could. So I mean I don't think about Sakurai's statements when I theorize about the roster.

I just think this game will have a minimum of 12 newcomers because that is the fewest we've ever gotten, and I don't think we'll get more than four cuts because cutting a unique moveset is a LOT more severe than cutting a clone. And that right there gives us a minimum roster size of (35) minimum veterans + (12) minimum newcomers, or (47) minimum characters on the roster total.

I also think they designed the website the way they did on purpose so that the roster COULD be divisible by 9, which is why I say 47 characters is the absolute worst case scenario (Four cuts, no Mewtwo, 12 newcomers) and 54 characters is the best (2 cuts, Mewtwo, 16 newcomers).

And 16 newcomers isn't a whole lot, considering that's fewer than what we got in Brawl even if it's more than what we got in Melee. The question is the balance between returning veterans and new characters.

before it was dividable by 4 I think on the site when the game was first shown at e3. so the site was just increased because the roster getting larger. I doubt sakurai would hint us the roster size, especially when he clearly doesn't mention the roster size for this game.

 

[majora_787]

I don't remember it ever being divisible by 4. When I saw the website for the first time right after E3, it had the 9 veterans all on one page followed by Villager and Mega Man.

 

[MAGMIS]

I don't remember it ever being divisible by 4. When I saw the website for the first time right after E3, it had the 9 veterans all on one page followed by Villager and Mega Man.

then maybe im misunderstanding cuz im talking about the char blocks at the bottom of the page on any char page.

 

[Andinus]

Sakurai has said a lot of things that all just conflict with each other. He said he may have reached the limit with either Brawl or SSB4, and also said he wanted to avoid cuts and add as many characters as he could. So I mean I don't think about Sakurai's statements when I theorize about the roster.

I just think this game will have a minimum of 12 newcomers because that is the fewest we've ever gotten, and I don't think we'll get more than four cuts because cutting a unique moveset is a LOT more severe than cutting a clone. And that right there gives us a minimum roster size of (35) minimum veterans + (12) minimum newcomers, or (47) minimum characters on the roster total.

I also think they designed the website the way they did on purpose so that the roster COULD be divisible by 9, which is why I say 47 characters is the absolute worst case scenario (Four cuts, no Mewtwo, 12 newcomers) and 54 characters is the best (2 cuts, Mewtwo, 16 newcomers).

And 16 newcomers isn't a whole lot, considering that's fewer than what we got in Brawl even if it's more than what we got in Melee. The question is the balance between returning veterans and new characters.

I have to correct you a little bit here, he said "put in" not "add" as many characters as we can in reference to cuts, not new comers. Also sixteen newcomers is exactly how many we got in brawl according to smash wiki.

How many new comers we will get is very much up in the air right now and my money is on 10 at this point.

 

[MAGMIS]

I have to correct you a little bit here, he said "put in" not "add" as many characters as we can in reference to cuts, not new comers. Also sixteen newcomers is exactly how many we got in brawl according to smash wiki.

How many new comers we will get is very much up in the air right now and my money is on 10 at this point.

why 10 is it because of the four trophy quiz shown @ the direct hinting at the 4 newcomers. 6 shown to us already + 4 ?.

 

[MAGMIS]

Guys check this out,

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/4964/sakurai-cut-characters-from-smash-bros/

Sakurai said this "There are 39 characters in the game this time around and just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion; I'd have to draw a line in the sand and have a new approach to make it worthwhile. As long as the fans enjoy it, though, that's what matters and in the distant future, I guess that might be something I have to consider."

That could possibly mean that the next game roster size will increase only a little. so ye 40-45 so far it seems like it.

 

[Andinus]

why 10 is it because of the four trophy quiz shown @ the direct hinting at the 4 newcomers. 6 shown to us already + 4 ?.

My guess is mostly based upon how much time, and the events we have before release. I think we will hear about 1-2 newcomers at E3, and the remaining 2-3 will be left as surprises for after the game is released.

I don't think they would release the game with already having announced all the new comers. I mean gotta leave some surprises for those who don't want all the spoilers before they buy the game.

 

[majora_787]

then maybe im misunderstanding cuz im talking about the char blocks at the bottom of the page on any char page.

Yes. Those. When I first saw that page, there were two pages. 9 on the first page for the veterans, 9 on the second page with 2-3 occupied by the newcomers.

 

[Deleted member]

For those wondering where Sakurai said thirty-nine characters for Brawl:

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/4964/sakurai-cut-characters-from-smash-bros/

There are 39 characters in the game this time around and just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion; I'd have to draw a line in the sand and have a new approach to make it worthwhile. As long as the fans enjoy it, though, that's what matters and in the distant future, I guess that might be something I have to consider.

 

[MAGMIS]

My guess is mostly based upon how much time, and the events we have before release. I think we will hear about 1-2 newcomers at E3, and the remaining 2-3 will be left as surprises for after the game is released.

I don't think they would release the game with already having announced all the new comers. I mean gotta leave some surprises for those who don't want all the spoilers before they buy the game.

"As long as the fans enjoy it" does that mean he really does care about his fans opinion of the char roster?

 

[MAGMIS]

Yes. Those. When I first saw that page, there were two pages. 9 on the first page for the veterans, 9 on the second page with 2-3 occupied by the newcomers.

then it could be true so does that mean 7 char are left because there are 7 left. 4 returning I assume cuz of
1. Captain Falcon - We saw Samurai Goro @ Nintendo direct.
2. Ice Climbers - We saw the Polar Bear @ smash run video. They have Rosalina and Luma working on 3ds.
3. Wario - They still have Wario assist trophy and added a new one which is Ashley.
4. Ness - There was a pic of the day where it showed Earthbound items.
Also if u add all these 4 returning char the roster will have 21 returning char just like brawl did excluding third party char like sonic.

ALSO if u look at the trophy quiz at the direct, there are 7 shadowed char, which could mean also the 7 remaining char. Just throwing that out there.

then 3 newcomers? which are palutena, chrom, shulk??????
also last brawl he added only 2 new Nintendo series to the game as playable char.
so Shulk and little mac are the 2 new Nintendo series.

Obviously I want to hear your guys opinion on this.

 

[Andinus]

Guys check this out,

http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/4964/sakurai-cut-characters-from-smash-bros/

Sakurai said this "There are 39 characters in the game this time around and just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion; I'd have to draw a line in the sand and have a new approach to make it worthwhile. As long as the fans enjoy it, though, that's what matters and in the distant future, I guess that might be something I have to consider."

That could possibly mean that the next game roster size will increase only a little. so ye 40-45 so far it seems like it.

Had not heard this before but it sounds like even more support for a conservative roster if he was already realizing it back then, and from what he has said more recently, his opinion really has not changed.

 

[Andinus]

"As long as the fans enjoy it" does that mean he really does care about his fans opinion of the char roster?

No, he is talking about the "new approach" he was thinking about, and if he is right, and the fans enjoy it, a bigger roster won't matter as much.

So the new approach could be things like smash run or all the changes we are seeing to current characters IMO.

 

[majora_787]

then it could be true so does that mean 7 char are left because there are 7 left. 4 returning I assume cuz of
1. Captain Falcon - We saw Samurai Goro @ Nintendo direct.
2. Ice Climbers - We saw the Polar Bear @ smash run video. They have Rosalina and Luma working on 3ds.
3. Wario - They still have Wario assist trophy and added a new one which is Ashley.
4. Ness - There was a pic of the day where it showed Earthbound items.
Also if u add all these 4 returning char the roster will have 21 returning char just like brawl did excluding third party char like sonic.

ALSO if u look at the trophy quiz at the direct, there are 7 shadowed char, which could mean also the 7 remaining char. Just throwing that out there.

then 3 newcomers? which are palutena, chrom, shulk??????
also last brawl he added only 2 new Nintendo series to the game as playable char.
so Shulk and little mac are the 2 new Nintendo series.

Obviously I want to hear your guys opinion on this.

I don't think we only have 7 characters on the final roster that we haven't seen when we are two months from E3 and 3-4 months from the game's release. That couldn't reek more of poor planning than it does.

 

[Morbi]

No, he is talking about the "new approach" he was thinking about, and if he is right, and the fans enjoy it a bigger roster won't matter as much.

So the new approach could be things like smash run or all the changes we are seeing to new characters IMO.

Or even the removal of certain characters, like Pokemon Trainer, which I predicted!

 

[MAGMIS]

I don't think we only have 7 characters on the final roster that we haven't seen when we are two months from E3 and 3-4 months from the game's release. That couldn't reek more of poor planning than it does.

What if the game were to release on somewhere on the month of june, then would u agree on my theory?

 

[Morbi]

What if the game were to release on somewhere on the month of june, then would u agree on my theory?

I honestly feel as though the roster will contain 50 plus characters (no more than 54, somewhere around 52). But the release date is entirely irrelevant at a certain point. The characters that are in Smash are most likely already in Smash. The entire month of May would be saved for certification and distribution (if the game came out in June), so they wouldn't change anything drastic in regards to the actual roster. In fact, 3 months isn't much time to change the entire roster either. I don't believe the release date is a major determinant in regards to the roster. At the most, 2 or 3 characters. But still, that wouldn't make sense if you are already predicting that the roster is going to be lower than 50.

 

[majora_787]

What if the game were to release on somewhere on the month of june, then would u agree on my theory?

No. That's not any better. The problem is, that means Sakurai decided to 1. downsize the roster, 2. Show us 83% of the entire roster before the game's release, and 3. Only have 9 new characters?

 

[MAGMIS]

I honestly feel as though the roster will contain 50 plus characters (no more than 54, somewhere around 52). But the release date is entirely irrelevant at a certain point. The characters that are in Smash are most likely already in Smash. The entire month of May would be saved for certification and distribution (if the game came out in June), so they wouldn't change anything drastic in regards to the actual roster. In fact, 3 months isn't much time to change the entire roster either. I don't believe the release date is a major determinant in regards to the roster. At the most, 2 or 3 characters. But still, that wouldn't make sense if you are already predicting that the roster is going to be lower than 50.

Sakurai said this "There are 39 characters in the game this time around and just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion; I'd have to draw a line in the sand and have a new approach to make it worthwhile. As long as the fans enjoy it, though, that's what matters and in the distant future, I guess that might be something I have to consider."

im just basing off what sakurai said himself. I totally agree that the release date doesn't have much of an impact on the roster size though.

 

[Morbi]

Sakurai said this "There are 39 characters in the game this time around and just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion; I'd have to draw a line in the sand and have a new approach to make it worthwhile. As long as the fans enjoy it, though, that's what matters and in the distant future, I guess that might be something I have to consider."

im just basing off what sakurai said himself. I totally agree that the release date doesn't have much of an impact on the roster size though.

Indeed, that is one of my greatest fears with this game, I don't want it to be Brawl 2.0. Nothing against Brawl, I just mean that I don't want a re-skinned version of the game. Something innovative needs to happen, something like Subspace. My fear is that Sakurai believes that move-set customization is enough. He is obviously aware that increasing the roster size isn't going to justify the game. If you look at all of the features introduced in Melee and Brawl, there were a lot. Smash 4 doesn't have that. So far, move-set customization and Smash Run (along with the Wii U equivalent) are the only "new" things about the game... maybe the matchmaking if you want to count that. Nothing inherently changes the game like the Smash Ball.

So in that case, a beefed up roster is the only thing that can compensate the overt lack of innovation!

 

[MAGMIS]

No. That's not any better. The problem is, that means Sakurai decided to 1. downsize the roster, 2. Show us 83% of the entire roster before the game's release, and 3. Only have 9 new characters?

ok, ok so basically my theory is just thrown out the window I gave it a try though.

is it 7+9 then meaning 45 char in total with the 29 char already shown. 50 char just seems what sakurai doesn't want because he stated "just adding a few more wouldn't be enough to justify a new game in my opinion". Basically he may be telling us literally that his only adding few more to the char roster size from brawl and what he meant by its not enough is that sakurai wants to add something else like the "SMASH RUN MODE".

 

[MAGMIS]

Indeed, that is one of my greatest fears with this game, I don't want it to be Brawl 2.0. Nothing against Brawl, I just mean that I don't want a re-skinned version of the game. Something innovative needs to happen, something like Subspace. My fear is that Sakurai believes that move-set customization is enough. He is obviously aware the increasing the roster size isn't going to justify the game. If you look at all of the features introduced in Melee and Brawl, there were a lot. Smash 4 doesn't have that. So far, move-set customization and Smash Run (along with the Wii U equivalent) are the only "new" things about the game... maybe the matchmaking if you want to count that. Nothing inherently changes the game like the Smash Ball.

So in that case, a beefed up roster is the only thing that can compensate the overt lack of innovation!

or maybe his referring to "project m" because that's like a Brawl 1.5. lol well for the competitive side at least. not really sure where im exactly going with this myself

 

[The Nerd]

So! Since this was last talked about we've had a plethora of additional information added. Any ideas on the roster size now? I think I'll have to eat my words and say that with the new info we're going to hit 50 characters. This is counting the three Mii Fighters as separate though. At the current 38 characters, adding in previous Brawl Vets -Snake, Ivysaur, and Squirtle gives 49, and Mewtwo would give 50. I think that's a fairly conservative estimate; while there likely will be cuts, I also think there are likely more than one or two more newcomers; I would say at least three. 50 seems to be a pretty reasonable guess.